Birthday weekend in Santiago

 Happy birthday to me! Mike had Friday off so we went down to Santiago centro. First we took the metro from our apartment down to the Plaza de Armas.

 cool fountain in front of metro

The metro here is very nice and so much better than driving in Santiago traffic. The Plaza de Armas dates back to the 1500s when the city was founded by Pedro de Valdivi. Then it was used as military training grounds but now it is the heart of Santiago.

Many of the buildings in the Plaza have been destroyed and rebuilt after earthquakes. Currently a huge cathedral built in 1747, the Catedral Metropolitana, dominates the square.

The cathedral was beautiful - surprisingly European. There were quite a few more devote church members in this cathedral though than the ones we saw in Europe. Of course there were some creepy statues amongst the beauty.

Outside the cathedral, inside the square, we saw everything from a ranting religious preacher to a group of traditional Chilean dancers to street venders selling balloons, paintings and trinkets. Also within the square we went to a museum detailing the history of Chile.

 Any time is a good time to play cars.

After seeing the square we walked down the pedestrian street lined with clothing and shoe stores to the famous fish market.

We loved the fish market. It was full of every kind of seafood you can imagine - all freshly caught that day. Inside the market there are also several restaurants. We had to try out the food and we weren't disappointed. We had scallops, shrimp and a variety of other shellfish. It was scrumptious!

After lunch we bought some salmon to take home. We made it for dinner later that night and I think it was possibly one of the best meals I've ever had. The fish was so fresh. I love salmon but now I LOVE salmon.

After the fish market we walked over to see Chile's presidential palace, La Moneda.

It was originally built as a mint, thus the title La Moneda or "the coin" in Spanish. In 1846 one of Chile's Presidents, Manuel Bulnes, moved in with his family and it turned from a mint to a presidential residence. Jay liked the fountains best.

The kids were done at this point so we headed home.

On Saturday I woke up to breakfast in bed made by Mike. He even included fresh squeezed oj - what a wonderful husband! We then took a drive up to the Andes Mountains to see the snow.

Unfortunately the drive was very windy and long, Jay felt pretty sick in the back, but it was worth it! It was beautiful up there and we had a lot of fun playing in the snow.

Later that night Mike and I enjoyed going to the movies on our own and eating Papa John's pizza. Overall an awesome way to celebrate turning 27!